[centre][color=#008b45][H2]ASAHI GOROSHI[/H2][/color]And [h2][color=f6989d]Cassandra[/color][/h2]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/b4mXgO7.png[/img]  [img]http://i.imgur.com/RPO6P8A.png[/img][/centre]

Asahi turned towards someone grabbing his shoulder. He had clenched fist and was about to strike when he realized it was none other than Cassandra, Eris’s girl. The same girl who latched onto Eris and is suppose to be her morality chain, or something along those lines. The girl that Asahi had threaten to harm because of Eclipse Princess’s insolence. This girl, Cassandra, who apparently had [i]no[/i] idea of the things going on around her. It was war here, and this girl was about as aware of it all as a princess locked in a tower.

[color=008b45]”The Ivory Masks crashed our performance! And of course right after our show flops, Chiyo launches an all out attack on the guild, when we’re all trying to take part of the festival! Fucking…. Hell! I spent so much time getting everyone together, to try to work on something that isn’t the fucking Sweepers or fighting, and this is my reward. Just wanted to have [i]fun[/i], and now that bitch has to ruin all of it.”[/color]

The boy was bitter and angry, not a good combination for the same boy who willingly got into a fight with a gang who outnumbered and could outgun him. But just like his fight with Eris, Asahi wasn’t going to let the odds stop him. He fought for his friends, for his guild, and maybe a bit for himself.

Cassandra flinched at the...rage Asahi seemed to have. She shifted, a little uneasy, but she stood her ground. She studied him, wondering if she should try to...stop him from whatever it seemed he wanted to do, and with a start, she realised that if Chiyo was involved, the Eris was too. Hands curling slightly into fists, she quickly tried to put everything together. 

She narrowed her eyes, [color=f6989d]“So you think attacking them is the right way?”[/color] She demanded, unsure of what was going on even now, but her thoughts went to Eris. Had she gone back to what she was, before they met? Cassandra hoped not, but...there was Chiyo…[color=f6989d]”Why would they attack?”[/color] She demanded, standing tall as she watched Asahi, thinking he might just attack her, and she wanted to be ready for that. 

[color=008b45]“Why? Because Chiyo is batshit crazy! You know that bitch lords her superiority over us, in DGO and in real life. Don’t think she doesn’t. I’ve heard the rumors, I’ve seen her in action. We’ve worked so hard to make the Ebony Strykers, to make the Sweepers, to make everyone a bit better and… And she just goes and fucks that all up. I don’t even know why! And that’s why I’m going over there and getting answers.”[/color]

Asahi turned away from Cassandra and marched onwards towards the Ivory Mask Cafe. However when he thought more about what Cassandra had asked first about attacking the cafe, Asahi did pause. [color=008b45]”I’m fighting for my friends. That bitch Eris and her Eclipse Princess killed so many of my friends that day, and she thinks she can sit on the high horse and call us savages? She doesn’t know how easy she has it, just like Chiyo! DGO doesn’t even matter to them. They get a good life because they were lucky enough to be born with one. But I have to work hard, me and my friends, to make sure we get something out of all of it. And than they just come along and break it all apart. So I’m going over there and… And…”[/color]
It was then that Asahi realized, somewhat, that he was going back to his old ways again. That knee-jerk reaction to answer injustice with violence. He had promised to stop doing that, but old habits were hard to break.

Cassandra let Asahi talk himself out, but she did edge closer to the cafe, wanting to put herself between it, and him. [color=f6989d]“And then you realise that what you want to do is no better then what happened to you”[/color] She said, her voice weary and with a tinge of sadness to it. If Chiyo was leading Eris down the wrong path...Cassandra didn’t know what she would do. Eris had seemed happier since they’d been hanging out, and she didn’t want Eris to fall into shadows again in her need to save Chiyo. 

[color=f6989d]“Yes, they were born into a life of privilege. Yes, that’s unfair. But its not their fault. I have had to work hard every day of my life as well, but I don’t even Eris, or even Chiyo. We know what it is to work hard. But so does Eris. She worked hard to be a better person, so much so that she wanted to help Chiyo. I hope that won’t be her downfall”[/color] Cassandra sighed, and agitated, she ran a hand through her hair. 

[color=f6989d]“Why do you want to attack them? Not just for the friends that died. Why? What will it give you?” [/color]

Asahi glared and Cassandra, even snarling. But the more he thought about he, the more he realized what sort of a monster he is. He [i]has[/i] killed people before without a care in the world. Picked on people weaker than he is just for being in his way. He wasn’t any better than the likes of Eris or Chiyo, he was just being a victim of the very same treatment he had given to others. And he had made a promise to be better than that.

But it was a hard promise to keep knowing that it was going to keep happening. The temptation, the anger, and all these fights.

[color=008b45]”I don’t know. Satisfaction? I mean… Why did Eris kill all those players? What purpose did it serve? All she did was alienate herself from the guild she was suppose to help, and in the end all it did was spark a civil war that fractured everyone. Was that all she wanted too?”[/color] Asahi looked at Cassandra with a stern glare. If she knew Eris so well, then surely she knew what Eris did what she did.

[color=008b45]”I can’t let them just keep pushing us around like this. I don’t want her or Chiyo to think they can just be as powerful as they want, and think that no one can stop them or stand up to them. Or that no one can stand up to them equally. But what would you know about that, Cassandra? All this time you’ve been a tool to her, haven’t you? Followed Eris around like some little puppy, don’t even have a bark or a bite. What would you be without her?”[/color] Asahi moved closer to Cassandra until they were face-to-face. [color=008b45]”What do you possibly think you can do by yourself?”[/color]

Cassandra flinched at his words, and before she knew what she was doing, she slapped Asahi. [color=f6989d]“You don’t know anything, Asahi. I am not her tool. I am her friend. Everyone deserves a friend, and everyone sees things different. I have not done anything I didn’t want to do. Eris….Eris attacked those players because she believed it was right. Because, maybe, in some semblance, it was. You cannot deny that Deep Ground Online is corrupt. Something needs to change and no one was doing it. Maybe you just can’t see what is going on, because you are biased. I don’t know. But I know one thing. 

She wouldn’t hurt me. And I won’t let you hurt her. 

Perhaps no one can stand up to someone like Chiyo, and yes, Eris. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe it isn’t meant to be a single person doing everything. What can I do by myself? I don’t know. But if I lived my life thinking I’m limited because I’m not as strong as others, or as powerful, I wouldn’t get anywhere. Because you’re right. I was nothing before. Now….”[/color] She shrugged, glaring at Asahi, daring him to do something, anything. 

[color=f6989d]“And maybe think that you wanting to bring them down...is leading you right on the path to becoming them”[/color]

Asahi glared at Cassandra and was tempted to slam her face into the pavement. It would be so easy, and it wouldn’t be anything Asahi has never done before. Curbstomp another bitch into the ground because she laid hands on him, business as usual. But barely an hour ago he had told everyone that stuff like that was suppose to stop. No more fighting, no more hits. The Sweepers were to disband and join the Strykers and become a proper outfit, not some roaming band of murderers for tautological justice. 

[color=008b45]”And what do you suggest? Give into their demands? The Sweepers are already gone. If not, then they’re certainly shattered. Eris made sure of that. Her problems are personal now. As for Chiyo? Who knows what’s going on in her head. Maybe it’s personal for her too. Now the question is, how many people has to suffer? Who is it okay to hurt? I’m not going to stand in a corner with my tails between my legs just because you don’t think Eris doesn’t have the guts to ruin everyone’s life. She already has! And now I have to fix that! Do you even realize the full extent of her actions!? Civil! War! Because of her, the Ebony Strykers are weaker than before! Because of her betrayal, the Ivory Masks are going to take over Deep Ground, which means Chiyo, the most corrupt bitch at Purple Crown, is about to win it all!”[/color]

Asahi stepped away from Cassandra and looked back towards the cafe, where he just saw Eris go inside. [color=008b45]”If this is suppose to be a fight between who’s right and who’s wrong, then we will always be enemies. Chiyo and Eris want to hurt my friends, in DGO and in real life. And I can’t let that happen anymore. So unless you are going to take their side and let them keep hurting them, get out of my way![/color]

Cassandra sighed, and she shook her head. She didn’t have the answers. If she did, she doubted she’d be there talking to him. [color=f6989d]“I didn’t say give in. But doing it in such a way that makes you no better isn’t the cause either. An eye for an eye just makes everyone blind”[/color] She said, heartsick.[color=f6989d] “You ask the questions about how many have to suffer. But if you go in there with a vendetta, more will suffer. I’m not going to let you hurt more in your need for revenge” [/color]!Cassandra said, trying to stand up tall and at least look a little bit intimidating. 

[color=f6989d]“You will cause a lot of trouble, if you go in ready to fight”[/color]

[color=008b45]”You don’t have an answer but you think it’s better for me to run? To just ignore your girlfriend and hope she leaves us alone? It’s people like you that lets this happen. People like you who just stands by and hopes for the best. Someone takes your eye and you just run and hide. You don’t have an answer, you aren’t going to help anyone. Not you, not me, not Eris. You’re useless.”[/color]

Asahi pushed pass Cassandra and continued onward towards the cafe, seeing Eris and Chiyo just leave.

Cassandra, furious, spun on her toes, and she snatched at Asahi, seeking to pull him back, and if he fell then so be it.[color=f6989d] “You don’t know what I’ve been doing, nor what I am capable off. if you’re so high and mighty, so concerned about your friends, then why aren’t you with them, defending them? Are you just all words, all full of hot air? No, you’d rather revenge. You are pathetic”[/color] She said, deciding to not hold herself back, and say what she really thought.[color=f6989d] “I’m not going to run and hide, you pathetic worm, I’m going to find answers and a way of action that suits my morals, but at least I don’t go saying I’m concerned about my friends, doing this for my friends, when I’m just doing it for myself”[/color]

The bigger boy just shrugged off Cassandra’s attempt to stop him, though he did stop. It was annoying but she wasn’t wrong. In the end it all just went back to Asahi; his pride, his anger, and his need to get even. He doesn’t even know how exactly the others think about Eris or Chiyo or even the Sweepers. He just told them what he thinks and expected them to do as he said. It wasn’t fair, but it certainly did feed his ego and made him feel bigger than he isn’t. Cassandra even had a point about being with them: While his chances as Arms Slave might have not made much of a difference, surely he could have saved a lot more people if he was actually with his friends when Eclipse Princess went on her rampage than if he wasn’t busy fighting his own battles.

That’s not to say he didn’t give Cassandra a bit of a smack when she tried to stop him, though it instead turned into Asahi grabbed Cassandra by the collar and pulling her close. [color=008b45]”You can have the moral high ground all you want, but in war the only one who’s [i]right[/i] is whoever is left. You think I’m pathetic, but in the end you and I fight for the same reasons. The only difference is how far we’re willing to go for our friends.”[/color] Asahi turned away from the cafe and Cassandra and headed back to the theater. He needed to get his things, check on the others, and head to DGO asap. The soon the better.

Cassandra was very tempted indeed to slip out of her shirt,not caring that it would have left her half naked anymore, but that didn’t turn into an option. Which, with thought, she was thankful for. [color=f6989d]“You’re wrong. In war, no one is right. Even the winners aren’t winners,Asahi. The question isn’t how far we are willing to go, the question is how many have to suffer? You may think I am just a puppy, but I’m fighting for those that can’t fight for themselves, can’t protect themselves. Those that might need a hand, but no one sees them. Be honest, You wouldn’t have a clue who I am, if it wasn’t for Eris”[/color] She turned and walked towards where she had last seen Eris, intending to speak with her, and ask her what was going on. [color=f6989d]“And if Eris gets in the way of me being able to protect the innocent, then….” [/color]She trailed off, not unsure, but not liking that line of thought. Swallowing, she hurried her footsteps.